Dantonio disappointed, resolved

EAST LANSING - He called it a "traumatic experience," compared it with "a hurricane" and promised to "gain our self-respect back as a football team and as a program."

Mark Dantonio on Saturday held the pivotal news conference of his time to date at Michigan State, 17 minutes of statements, questions and answers on a fight that has cast a harsh light on that football program.

The incident itself remains sketchy, and Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III said Saturday it may be some time before he sorts through it and issues charges. It has already had a very clear and public impact on MSU, though, and Dantonio responded with frankness on the incident and assurances on its resolution.

"In regards to this, our integrity will not be in question as a program," Dantonio said at MSU's Skandalaris Football Center. "In terms of how we handle the problem. I think it's very important that we look at things and we handle this problem with strength and resolve. And that's exactly what we'll do."

What is known of the Nov. 22 altercation at Rather Hall is that 10 MSU players have been identified by MSU Police as being present. Two of them, Glenn Winston and Roderick Jenrette, have been kicked off the team permanently because they had already been given second chances by Dantonio.

"They're done," he said of Winston and Jenrette, who remain enrolled in school. Winston can be on scholarship through the academic year per NCAA rule, while Jenrette is not currently on scholarship.

The other eight were suspended on Tuesday, and Dantonio said Saturday that they will be suspended at least through MSU's bowl game. MSU is expected to be chosen today to play in the Alamo (Jan. 2 in San Antonio) or the Insight (Dec. 31 in Tempe, Ariz.)

'A life lesson'

Five other suspects have yet to be identified. The suspensions came about, Dantonio said, because the players "put themselves at risk by going there, and given the opportunity to immediately come to me and tell me there's a problem, it didn't happen. So there's two reasons. And either one - either one - is sufficient enough to be suspended."

Jenrette missed the entire 2008 season for undisclosed reasons. Winston was given a much-criticized second chance by Dantonio after an off-campus fight in October of 2008 that left MSU hockey player A.J. Sturges with a head injury, and Winston with nearly four months in jail for misdemeanor assault.

Yet although Dantonio said he'll "take action accordingly" when charges are issued in this case, he said he still believes in second chances.

Suspended players B.J. Cunningham, Mark Dell, Chris L. Rucker, Ashton Leggett, Fred Smith, Brynden Trawick, Ishmyl Johnson and Jamiihr Williams all may eventually get one.

"Even though these young men are in difficulty, it doesn't mean I'm going to abandon them, first of all," he said. "Second of all, I think that when they look back at this, at some point in their life, this will be a life lesson. It certainly should be. And I hope it's a life lesson for our entire football team. But I thought it was last time."

Far from done

About 200 pages of investigative work from MSU Police plopped onto the desk of Dunnings on Friday, with more to come.

Dunnings expects that, as he goes through the information, he'll need some clarifications and more interviews done.

"There were a lot of people involved," Dunnings said Saturday, "and a lot of people we have yet to identify."

Once charges are issued, Dunnings said it's unlikely the police report will be released publicly until the legal process is complete. That, he said, is because public release of the information can compromise his case.

"People can modify their statements based on the information that's out there," Dunnings said, "and then we have no way of verifying the truth."

There are widely varying versions. The State News first reported the incident, which came after a Rather potluck dinner put on by fraternity Iota Phi Theta - and about 90 minutes after MSU's football awards banquet across the street at the Kellogg Center.

The football players were apparently reacting to an incident that took place the night before at The Small Planet nightclub in Bath Township.

Witnesses at Rather, including an MSU student who said he was hit, painted a picture of a wild melee with football players, some in ski masks, striking men and women.

'Just a tug'

The student, 20-year-old Brent Mitchell of Detroit, has since stopped talking. But his lawyer, Vanessa Moss-Wilson of Southfield, told the State Journal that he suffered a jaw injury and is considering seeking civil damages.

Dell's father, Mark Dell Sr., told the Detroit Free Press that Winston had been jumped at The Small Planet for dancing with someone else's girlfriend; that his son and other players went to Rather to back up Winston but did not fight; and that no ski masks were involved.

"I think there's a lot things out there, and when the truth comes out, I guess we'll know," Dantonio said. "Because there's a lot of things that you hear."

An on-site video is part of the evidence that Dunnings will consider, and it helped police identify the 10 MSU players. Dantonio said he has not viewed the video and will strictly "react to what's there" when the investigation is complete.

He also said he had no idea this was coming on the night of the banquet.

"No, there was no inkling, there was nothing there," he said. "And again, that's part of the disappointment, because obviously there was more than one person who knew about this, and this could have been easily prevented with just a little bit of, just a tug on the shoulder. Didn't have to be me, but it could have been anybody in our program. And that's the disappointing thing as well.

"And that's why you go to the level of suspension on the others. It wasn't like we weren't meeting that day. We had a 3:30 meeting, we had a feel-good banquet to celebrate our football team and celebrate our seniors. So it's a disappointment. But I have been disappointed before, our football program has been disappointed before, and we'll rise above this. We always will."